What is the age of responsibility? If a child dies at the age of 12, without even hearing about God, does this child go to Heaven or Hell? What if the child is 15 years old, or 21, or 25? At what age will the human being be held responsible for his belief and deeds? This question has puzzled researchers of all religions for a long time.

We instructed the human being to treat his parents kindly. His mother bore him laboriously and gave birth to him laboriously. Carrying him and weaning him takes thirty months. Then, when he reaches maturity and reaches the age of forty he says, "My Lord, enable me to give thanks for Your blessings which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do the good deeds that please You, and grant me righteous descendents. I have repented to you and I am one of the Muslims.46:15

God states in 46:15 that the human being reaches full mental maturity at the age of 40. It follows that anyone who dies before this age dies before reaching full maturity. From what we know about God's infinite mercy, it is not becoming to suggest that God would hold any human being accountable if he died before reaching full maturity. Such a person would not have been given the same opportunity to submit to God as others who live to attain full maturity.

Upon reading this information and its implications, the first reaction of many people may well be total objection. A common response is: "What if the person was really bad, evil, and an atheist, will he still go to Heaven if he died before the age of 40?" This response is a result of the human being's meanness being great, while God's mercy is immense.

People who object strongly to this divine mercy cannot come up with a cut-off age of responsibility. They ask questions such as, "What if the person was really wicked?" The answer is that God knows exactly who is wicked.

"Does God know that this person does not deserve to go to Heaven?" The answer is yes.

Therefore, this person will not die before the age of 40. It is as simple as that.

God is the only one who terminates our lives on this earth. He knows exactly who deserves to go Heaven and who deserves to go to Hell.

The following are some interesting cases that may be related to the age of 40.

- Early in 1989 a man by the name of Theodore Robert Bundy was executed for killing a number of women. The whole nation agreed that he was one of the most vicious criminals in history. So much so, that his execution was one of the rare occasions where the opponents of capital punishment did not protest. On the contrary, many people actually celebrated his execution. Numerous journalists, editorials, and politicians lamented the fact that justice took eleven years to execute Ted Bundy. They stated that Bundy should have been executed within a maximum of six years after his conviction.

According to the Quran, this would have been the greatest favour anyone could have done to Bundy. He was 42 years old when he was executed. Had he been executed five years earlier, at the age of 37, he would have gone straight to Heaven, and he did not deserve that.

- In contrast, others who were well regarded for the work for good causes died before the age of 40. It is possible to draw a very long list of good people who died before their 40th birthday. Some examples are: Princess Diana died at 36 while both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were assassinated just a couple of months before their 40th birthdays.